- 988 Suicide and Crisis lifeline
- Maternal Mental Health Hotline
- President’s Mental Health Strategy
- HHS Roadmap for Behavioral Health Integration
- Surgeon General’s Advisory on Protecting Youth Mental Health (PDF - 1 MB)
- Joint Letter on Children’s Mental Health (PDF - 584 KB)
- HHS Overdose Prevention Strategy
What we do
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) conducts numerous different programs and initiatives which aim to address behavioral health in the United States. In addition, HRSA provides leadership and guidance on behavioral health issues within and outside the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
What guides our work
We recognize that sound behavioral health - including mental health and substance use services - is essential to overall health and that care must be accessible and equitable to improve health outcomes. We are working to address the unique behavioral health needs of those living in rural and medically underserved communities.
President Biden launched the national mental health strategy during the State of the Union in early 2022, which prioritizes improving health equity in behavioral health services.
The three pillars of the strategy focus on:
- Strengthening system capacity
- Connecting Americans to care
- Creating healthy environments
HRSA’s Implementation of the President’s Strategy:
- Launch new programs to support the mental health and well-being of our health care workers
- Act to dramatically expand the supply, diversity, and culture competence of the behavioral health workforce
- Increase access to equitable quality behavioral health services in areas of highest need
The HHS Roadmap for Behavioral Health Integration advances the President’s Strategy to Address our National Mental Health Crisis. HHS is committed to providing the full spectrum of integrated, equitable, evidence-based, culturally appropriate, and person-centered behavioral health care to the populations it serves. HHS has evaluated key barriers to transforming behavioral health care in line with President Biden’s Strategy to Address our National Mental Health Crisis and has identified policy solutions to overcome these barriers.
HRSA’s Implementation of the HHS Roadmap for Behavioral Health Integration:
- Build a more diverse workforce prepared to practice in integrated settings
- Integrate promotion and prevention programs
- Incorporate behavioral health care services into primary care settings
- Engage populations at highest risk
Interdepartmental efforts
Various coordinated efforts to address behavioral health needs occur across the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). HRSA is an integral part in these crosscutting efforts.
These include but are not limited to:
- Overdose Prevention Strategy (OPS)
- HHS Behavioral health Coordinating Council (BHCC)
- Opioid Rapid Response Program (ORRP)
Focus areas
To improve the behavioral health and well-being of all Americans, including those living in vulnerable or medically underserved communities, HRSA programs focus on these areas and more:
Child and Adolescent Mental Health: HRSA’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) spearhead many of HRSA’s programming advancing behavioral health in children and adolescents.
Maternal Behavioral Health: HRSA provides several programs and initiatives to help address maternal behavioral health. Many of these programs are housed and operated within the Maternal and Children Health Bureau.
Strengthening the Behavioral Health Workforce: Strengthening the behavioral health workforce and connecting skilled health care providers to communities in need is vital to addressing the current and projected behavioral health needs of communities and populations. HRSA’s Bureau of Health Workforce (BHW) is central to these efforts.
Suicide Prevention: Suicide prevention is a major focus across HHS. Many different HRSA programs and initiatives support suicide prevention efforts.
- Promoting resilience and mental health among frontline health workforce
- Improving access to maternal mental health care
- Increasing universal screening for suicide risk
- Supporting access to pediatric mental health care
Overdose Prevention: Multiple Bureaus and Offices throughout HRSA are working to address the opioids crisis.
Behavioral Health Integration: Efforts to integrate behavioral health occur throughout HRSA but mainly within the Bureau of Primary Health Care through their health centers programs and the Bureau of Health Workforce where behavioral health integration are incorporated into their workforce development goals and programming (PDF - 779 KB).
Contact us
If you have any questions or want to connect with us, please email Patsy Cunningham.
Related resources
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